Ione M. Sandene

Ione M. Sandene

August 27, 1928- September 23, 2023

Ione M. Sandene, age 95, passed away peacefully at home on September 23, 2023. She was born in Mitchell, South Dakota, to Torsten Anderson Slemmen and Alice (Allie) Kelsey Prindle Slemmen on August 27, 1928.  She was raised in a loving home on a farm in Fedora, SD, with four siblings and eight cousins, who Allie and Torsten helped raise at various times.

After graduation from Fedora High School, Ione attended college in Madison, SD, and obtained a two-year Diploma and Teaching Certificate from General Beadle State Teachers College (now Dakota State University). Her first teaching job was in Lennox, SD, where she taught second grade. She then taught at the Campus Elementary School in Madison,SD, for two years. Ione moved to Brookings, SD where she taught third grade and attended night school at South Dakota State University. After teaching in Brookings, Ione returned to Madison to go to college full time and completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. After graduation, she then taught first and second grade in Worthington, Minnesota.

She met her husband, Arthur (Art) Raymond Sandene at a dance. They later married at the Fedora Endeavor Presbyterian Church on June 12, 1957. The couple moved to Brookings, SD, where Art completed a degree at South Dakota State University and Ione taught in the Elementary School in Brookings.

After Art graduated from SDSU, the couple moved to Omaha, where Art worked for Western Electric and later at Strategic Air Command, and Ione worked as a substitute teacher for the Millard and Westside (District 66) school systems. Ione completed a Master’s Degree in Library Science at the University of Nebraska Omaha. She worked for 15 years as a school media specialist at several Elementary Schools in the Westside School District.

After retirement, Ione enjoyed traveling and doing volunteer work in the community with her husband. They performed at many area Retirement Centers and Nursing Homes as members of the Happy Faces singing group and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

Ione served in many capacities as a member of Hope Presbyterian Church. Ione volunteered as a tutor with the Millard Public Schools and with the Westside schools. Ione and her husband were members of the Kalico Kerchief Square Dance Club and were active members of the Sons of Norway, Elveby Lodge, in Omaha. Ione enjoyed scrapbooking, reading, and cooking. One of Ione’s favorite pastimes, even in later life, was sending birthday cards.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Torsten Anderson Slemmen and Alice (Allie) Kelsey Prindle Slemmen; her husband of 56 years, Art Sandene; sisters, Arlene Slemmen Hall and her husband, Frederick Samuel Hall, Vergene Slemmen Klatt and her husband, Maurice Klatt, and Iva Prindle; brother, Clayton Prindle and his wife, Beulah (Beddow).

Her loss is mourned by her children, Brent Sandene, Omaha, NE, and Wendy Sandene Wiseman, Wixom, MI; grandchildren, Zachary Wiseman, Wixom, MI, Luke Wiseman, Alexandria, VA; many nephews and nieces.

Memorials are suggested to Hope Presbyterian Church.

Funeral Service: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 11 a.m., Hope Presbyterian Church, 5220 S 159th Ave. Interment: Hillcrest Cemetery.